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Washington gun appraisal services for estate tax, probate, charitable donation, and divorce, prepared in accordance with USPAP and IRS requirements. AppraiseItNow appraises rifles, shotguns, handguns, antique firearms, and full collections for clients in Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Olympia.
DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT FIREARMS APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, WASHINGTON COURTS, LENDERS, INSURERS, AND MORE.
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Owner & CEO
Joe founded AppraiseItNow to make a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal as simple to order as anything else online. A former Bain & Company strategy consultant, Joe leads the entire team and specializes in strategy, growth, and the firm's tech capabilities.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member with 30 years in the trade, from running estate sales and an auction gallery to appraising luxury apparel, furniture, artwork, antiques, and business assets, primarily for IRS tax filings.
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
Third-generation auctioneer and CAGA Certified Appraiser with more than 20 years valuing machinery, equipment, vehicles, business assets, and estates for banks, attorneys, and trustees across the Carolinas.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member specializing in Asian art, with a Master's from SOAS and a Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art. Ashley chairs the ISA's Antiques, Furnishings, and Decorative Arts committee and appraises for charitable donation, insurance, and equitable distribution.
Client Success Manager
Manages each engagement from the first enquiry to the delivered report, and keeps you posted at every step along the way.
International Society of AppraisersAccredited Member
Certified Appraisers Guild of AmericaCertified Appraiser
The Appraisal FoundationAuthorized by Congress as the source of appraisal standardsA Washington estate tax return, an insurance schedule, and a dissolution settlement ask three different questions about the same firearm. We confirm which one governs before anything is valued, and the report names and defines that standard on its first page.
Tax and court filings
A Washington estate tax return and a probate inventory both want the open-market price between a willing buyer and a willing seller, effective as of the date of death rather than today. That makes them retrospective opinions, referenced to sales contemporaneous with the date, and each firearm carries its own line.
Insurance
Scheduling a collection asks what it would cost to replace each piece with one of similar quality in the appropriate retail market. That figure carries the markup a real replacement would carry, which is why it commonly sits above the number the same gun takes on a tax filing.
Dissolution
Washington courts divide property on what is just and equitable, and a firearms collection is often the asset neither spouse can price. An independent fair market value report, with the comparable sales shown, gives the parties and the court a single figure to negotiate against. See how we handle divorce appraisals.
Washington collections tend to mix working field guns with inherited pieces, and both get the same evidentiary treatment: closed sales for the comparable set, a condition grade taken from the documentation, and the accessories valued with the gun rather than around it.
Long guns and handguns
The working core of most Washington collections, where condition and configuration carry the value. We appraise:
Collectible and martial
Here originality outweighs function, and an unrefinished original stock or a matching serial can separate two similar guns by a wide margin. We appraise:
Washington reaches a firearms collection through a state estate tax and a marital property system that both differ from most states. Three frameworks decide the date, the standard, and who has to sign.
Estate Tax
$3,000,000
the Washington estate tax exclusion for deaths on or after July 1, 2026, against a federal exclusion many times larger
Washington levies a state estate tax rather than an inheritance tax, and its exclusion sits far below the federal one. An estate that never comes close to a federal return can still owe Washington tax, and the firearms have to be valued item by item to compute it.
Rates run from 10 percent on the first $1,000,000 of Washington taxable estate up to 20 percent above $9,000,000, applied to fair market value at the date of death, so what a collection is documented at moves the bill directly.
Community Property
Community
Washington treats most property acquired during the marriage as community property, and sets no single statutory date for valuing it
Washington is one of nine community property states, so guns bought during the marriage are generally community property whoever paid and whoever the transfer ran through. RCW 26.09.080 then directs the court to make a just and equitable distribution rather than a mechanical split.
Unlike the states that fix valuation at the date of separation, Washington sets no statutory valuation date, and courts commonly use a date at or near trial. Tell us the date the court is working to and the report is written to it.
Probate
RCW 11.44
the chapter that puts the inventory duty on the personal representative, with no probate-referee roster and no statute naming who may value personal property
Washington requires the personal representative to inventory the estate but, unlike states that appoint probate referees, names no official appraiser and licenses no one specifically to value personal property.
That leaves the credibility of the valuation to the evidence behind it. We identify each firearm by make, model, caliber, serial number, and grade, and cite the closed sales the conclusion rests on, so the personal representative is filing a number that can be defended rather than an estimate.
What Washington clients say we are known for
Across 24 published Washington appraisal reviews, every one from a client who paid AppraiseItNow for an appraisal, the three things they raise most often are that they would hire us again, how much research is visible in the report, and how quickly we answer.
It is a pleasure to work with Joe and his team. They communicate every step along the way and made the process simple for us to have more than 35 firearms appraised. It was all done in a timely manner and the final report is easy to understand. I highly recommend their services.
Gun Appraisal for Probate
I was skeptical at first, but the company exceeded all of my expectations. The team responded quickly to every question, and the service was excellent. They’re now my go to source for my collection. I’ve used them twice already, and I plan to use them several more times.
Firearms Appraisal for Personal Use
By far the best of the best when it comes to an appraisal company. Truly professional owner who provides a detailed appraisal in an efficient and better than expected delivery time. A must GO TO Company. Would recommend to anyone.
Clothing Appraisal for Charitable Donation
I used AppraiseItNow for the first time last month and I was extremely pleased with the results. I needed an appraisal done for insurance purposes and the level of detail about each of my antique furniture pieces was thorough and very helpful in my being able to get the highest amount possible from my insurance company for the antique items that were damaged. I could see that they spent time making sure that the information she included was correct and current for my antique furniture items in the current market. The team responded to my emails timely to answer any questions I had. I would highly recommend Appraise It Now to get a thorough and professional appraisal done on antique items. I do intend to use them again for other antique furniture and jewelry that I have. Job well done! 😃🤗
Antique Furniture Appraisal for Insurance Claim
AppraiseItNow's service was expeditious and professional. The report was thorough with plenty of examples and rationale for the valuations. Good service comes at a cost, but for me it was well worth it. Highly recommended!
Personal Property Appraisal for Insurance Coverage
I asked AppraiseItNow to value a piece of sports memorabilia for purposes of a charitable donation. The item is rarely sold. Their research unearthed an important recent sale of a similar item, which I had not found previously, and which the first appraiser I used had not found either. AppraiseItNow was a good deal more expensive than the first service, but they crafted a detailed report in which I have much more confidence. They also helped me make sure the correct tax forms are used. Thank you!
Sports Memorabilia Appraisal for Charitable Donation
Given the USPAP-compliant nature of AppraiseItNow’s appraisal reports, we prepare our deliverables for major legal, tax, and financial reporting purposes for individual and commercial clients.
Popular uses of our appraisal reports include:
No. Our standard process keeps the guns in your possession: you submit photographs, serial numbers, and any documentation you hold, and our appraiser prepares the report from that evidence. For collections where physical inspection materially affects value, we appraise onsite at your location instead. No transfer of the firearms to us is involved either way.
At fair market value as of the decedent's date of death, item by item. That date is fixed, so the appraisal has to reference sales evidence contemporaneous with it rather than current market pricing. We list each firearm separately with make, model, caliber, serial number, and condition grade, which is the level of detail a personal representative needs for the inventory and for any state estate tax return.
Serial numbers and full photographs of each firearm, including markings, proof stamps, and any engraving. Original boxes, papers, factory letters, and purchase receipts all matter, as does anything establishing provenance such as an ownership history or documented military issue. Records of refinishing, rebarreling, or replaced parts should be included as well, since alterations affect value and an undisclosed one undermines the report.
Usually not. Insurance scheduling uses replacement value while estate and donation filings use fair market value, and those two figures are frequently far apart on the same gun. USPAP requires the intended use and value definition to be stated in the report, so a document written for one purpose is not interchangeable with the other. Tell us every use you have in mind and we will scope the engagement accordingly.
